Staying put and exploring

We were planning a trip out to the Scilly islands but we felt very settled in Falmouth. The weather had finally broken to a more normal UK summer too. We contemplated a gentle series of trips east via Fowey, Plymouth, Salcombe etc but the madness of summer holiday time and all the local regattas in this area kind of put us off. We now know why being up in Scotland was such a good idea! Falmouth week was just starting and there was lots going on. So, we decided to stay put for a bit longer on our rather nice mooring buoy off the town:

with an ever changing and interesting view aft from the saloon:

What to do? Well first of all we went to St Mawes and walked around the castle a little:

another one of Henry VIII's defensive fortifications erected by a local landowner and suitably dressed with ornate symbols and carvings showing allegiance to him, Much safer than not having them of course, Henry did remove the odd head.

Then we took the ferry to Trelissick to meet up with Norman, Julie and their canine trio. Milo the Jack Russell had a nice time cwtched up in the car being cuddled by Norman whilst we headed for the pub and lunch:

Being 14 is so tough.

The lovely folks from Blue Twinkle (henceforth to be known as Alex and Gisele) joined us for TGT and a chat then invited us for dinner ashore. The town was heaving (and the rain was falling) but we found a table in a pub that offered excellent pies - see website. A couple of days later we fed them on board the Nordhavn and luckily it was nice and dry this time for the RIB water taxi service that the captain provided. They have a beautiful Contest 48 yacht:

and are contemplating a move to the dark side (a power driven craft) in future. As they headed off to Fowey, they came to wave farewell:

Lovely people to spend some time with, we are sure that our paths will cross again.

We wandered over to the bay one evening to watch the Red Arrows display:

Colin, the BA flyboy who was a fast jet pilot in the forces before he became a BA bus driver warned us that they were not as good as they used to be. He called them the "Dead Sparrows". Well, based on this picture of their famous diamond nine formation he is right - one guy was out of position quite often:

However, the overall impression was still pretty good and they amused the huge crowd nicely.

Some walking was in prospect as the crew had not won the step count challenge in her "Fitbit friends group" for two weeks. Quite a crisis it seemed. So, a trip across to Flushing by ferry and than a walk around to Mylor was needed. We revisited the rather good cafe place in Mylor Yacht Harbour for lunch then got the bus back to Falmouth. Something that needs careful timings as there are not many of them each day and they seem to be driven by the grumpiest of First bus employees!

In the relentless quest for more steps, another ferry to St Mawes was followed by a walk to St Just and the stunning little church there, right next to the water:

The bus back (to Truro) this time was around 20 minutes late and had the most uncomfortable seats we can remember with non existent padding for the bum. The antique Dennis Dart bus had clearly seen better days. The crude leaf spring suspension was given quite a workout on the Cornish back roads and the vibration when stationary in gear was tooth rattling. When added to the almost solid seats, it was an hour and a quarter we don't plan to repeat. Shame as the countryside was lovely.

As we seem to have taken root here, our neighbours have changed a little. Initially there was this lovely old wooden sailing job:

Then we got this thing:

There is only one question - why would you?

Perhaps because of this:

Must be grim being a non boat person. Cheaper, but grim.